The Spirit of the

Antichrist

1st John 2:18-27

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” – 1st John 2:17 (KJV)

- Referring to the 7 Dispensations:

1 – Innocence 5 – Law (pause) 2 – Conscience 6 – Grace 3 – Human Government *Law (7 Years) 4 – Promise 7 – Millennium

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” – 1st John 2:17 (KJV)

Colon (:) introduces logical consequence or product of previous statement.

Semi-colon (;) closely related independent clauses.

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” – 1st John 2:17 (KJV)

Two Questions:

1) Who/What is the Antichrist?

2) Who are these antichrists?

John is the only writer who uses the term, “Antichrist.”

The proper meaning of (αντι anti) in composition is:

(1) “over-against,” as αντιτασσειν antitassein;(2) “contrary to,” as αντιλεγειν antilegein;(3) reciprocity, as ανταποδιδωμι antapodidomi;(4) “substitution,” as αντιβασιλευς antibasileus;(5) the place of the king, or ανθυπατος anthupatos - “proconsul.”

- Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Proconsul, in the place of the King:

1) Golden Calf (Exodus 32)

2) Brazen Serpent (Numbers 21)

3) The Body of Moses (Jude 9)

The Function/Role of the Antichrist

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” – Revelation 6:1-2 (KJV)

- The Antichrist - 1st Horseman (4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse)

a) “White horse” = purity & holiness or of moral character.

b) “bow” (2 meanings)- Law of 1st Mention: Genesis 9:13

*Covenant w/Israel (Daniel 9:27) - Weapon, but no arrows:

*His people will fight for him (Daniel 9:26, then compare with Revelation 19:11-16)

c) “crown”- Revelation 6:2, “Crown” translates as

“stephanos,” or victor’s crown.- Compare w/Revelation 19

* “crown” translates as “diadem,” or “bound about the head” (denotes royalty)

Nimrod

“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” – Genesis 10:8-10 (KJV)

Nimrod

“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one (compound: warrrior, tyrant) in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before (in the face of) the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before (in the face of) the LORD.And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” – Genesis 10:8-10 (KJV)

Nimrod - First Antichrist; First Empire - Built the Tower of Babel - Grandson of Ham, Noah’s third and cursed son. - Wore the “coats of Adam and Eve,” which Ham

stole from Noah. - Believed to have introduced eating the flesh of animals (“mighty hunter before the LORD”). - Became king at approximately 18 years old. - Became an idolater after becoming King *Compiled from 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia

Nimrod (continued…) - Terah became part of Nimrod’s counsel. - A prophecy of Abraham’s birth and the end of idolatry. - Attempted to kill Abraham with newborns. - Abraham confronts Nimrod.

*Attempted to burn Abraham at the stake. - Challenged God to a fight

*Nimrod’s army defeated by gnats*Gnat enters the nose, then brain of Nimrod.

*Compiled from 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia

70 Weeks of Daniel

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” – Daniel 9:25 (KJV)

- 445 B.C., “Edict of Artaxerxes” (Nehemiah 2)- “Mountain Peaks of Prophecy” – Clarence Larkin

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” – Daniel 9:26 (KJV) - 31 A.D., Crucifixion of Christ (30-32 A.D.) - 70 A.D., Siege of Jerusalem

*Titus and Josephus

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem… - David Roberts, 1970

“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” – Daniel 9:27 (KJV) - Refers to Antichrist - Allusion to Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

- Ruled: 175 B.C. – 164 B.C. - Epimanes, or the Mad One - Attempted to Hellenize Jews - Outlawed Jewish ceremonial law - The Maccabean Revolt - 1st and 2nd Maccabees, part of Apocrypha.

- “The 400 Years of Silence”

Hellenize: implementation of ancient Greek culture.

“Not long after this the king sent an old man of Athens to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers, and not to live after the laws of God: And to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympius; and that in Garizim, of Jupiter the Defender of strangers, as they did desire that dwelt in the place.” – 2nd Maccabees 6:1-2

“The coming in of this mischief was sore and grievous to the people: For the temple was filled with riot and revelling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots, and had to do with women within the circuit of the holy places, and besides that brought in things that were not lawful. The altar also was filled with profane things, which the law forbiddeth.” – 2nd Maccabees 6:3-5

“Neither was it lawful for a man to keep sabbath days or ancient fasts, or to profess himself at all to be a Jew. And in the day of the king's birth every month they were brought by bitter constraint to eat of the sacrifices; and when the fast of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy.” – 2nd Maccabees 6:6-7

“Moreover there went out a decree to the neighbour cities of the heathen, by the suggestion of Ptolemee, against the Jews, that they should observe the same fashions, and be partakers of their sacrifices. And whoso would not conform themselves to the manners of the Gentiles should be put to death. Then might a man have seen the present misery.” – 2nd Maccabees 6:8-9

“For there were two women brought, who had circumcised their children; whom when they had openly led round about the city, the babes handing at their breasts, they cast them down headlong from the wall. And others, that had run together into caves near by, to keep the sabbath day secretly, being discovered by Philip, were all burnt together, because they made a conscience to help themselves for the honour of the most sacred day.” – 2nd Maccabees 6:10-11

The Desecration of the TempleDavid Martin, 17th Century (engraving)

“Now it came to pass, after two years, in the hundred forty and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day of that month which is by us called Chasleu, and by the Macedonians Apelleus, in the hundred and fifty-third olympiad, that the king came up to Jerusalem, and, pretending peace, he got possession of the city by treachery; at which time he spared not so much as those that admitted him into it, on account of the riches that lay in the temple…” – The Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus, 12.5.4

“…he ventured to break the league he had made. So he left the temple bare, and took away the golden candlesticks, and the golden altar [of incense], and table [of shew-bread], and the altar [of burnt-offering]; and did not abstain from even the veils, … He also emptied it of its secret treasures, and left nothing at all remaining; and by this means cast the Jews into great lamentation, for he forbade them to offer those daily sacrifices which they used to offer to God, according to the law.” – The Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus, 12.5.4

“…And when he had pillaged the whole city, some of the inhabitants he slew, and some he carried captive, together with their wives and children, so that the multitude of those captives that were taken alive amounted to about ten thousand…” – The Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus, 12.5.4

“…the citizens suffered many and sore calamities. And when the king had built an idol altar upon God's altar, he slew swine upon it, and so offered a sacrifice neither according to the law, nor the Jewish religious worship in that country. He also compelled them to forsake the worship which they paid their own God, and to adore those whom he took to be gods; and made them build temples, and raise idol altars in every city and village, and offer swine upon them every day.” – The Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus, 12.5.4

“He also commanded them not to circumcise their sons, and threatened to punish any that should be found to have transgressed his injunction…” – The Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus, 12.5.4

“When the Samaritans saw the Jews under these sufferings, they no longer confessed that they were of their kindred, nor that the temple on Mount Gerizzim belonged to Almighty God…” – The Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus, 12.5.5

Antichrists: - An army always precedes its king. - The spirit of the antichrist (“followers”) will precede the Antichrist himself.

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” – Matthew 24:23-24 (KJV)

Note: The dialogue shifts from prophetic terms to the current landscape.

“And now these imposters and deceivers persuaded the multitude to follow them into the wilderness, and pretended that they would exhibit manifest wonders and signs, that should be performed by the providence of God.” - Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews

*Book 2, Chapter 8, Section 6

- Seduction of the Church - Issue of Proximity

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” – 1st John 2:19 (KJV)

“Here is, 1. A moral prognostication of the time; the end is coming…” – Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible

“That is, they did not really belong to us, or were not true Christians. This passage proves that these persons, whatever their pretensions and professions may have been, were never sincere Christians. The same remark may be made of all who apostatize from the faith, and become teachers of error. They never were truly converted; never belonged really to the spiritual church of Christ.” – Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Apostasy: The act of abandoning the faith, also refers to abandoning a religious vow or commitment they made. (“Backsliders”)

“…They never were truly converted; never belonged really to the spiritual church of Christ.” - Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” – Romans 10:17 (KJV)

Dealing With Apostasy

Note: Backslider, Soul/Guest, New Convert, Member, etc….

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 7:21 (KJV)

“This…intends not merely outward obedience to the will of God, declared in his law, nor barely subjection to the ordinances of the Gospel; but more especially faith in Christ for life and salvation; which is the source of all true evangelical obedience and without which nothing is acceptable to God. ” – John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” – Matthew 7:22-23 (KJV)

- The Day of Judgment - “Lord, Lord,” not “My Lord, My Lord”

“That is, I never approved of your conduct; never loved you; never regarded you as my friends. This proves that, with all their pretensions, they had never been true followers of Christ. Jesus will not then say to false prophets and false professors of religion that he had once known them and then rejected them; that they had been once Christians and then had fallen away; that they had been pardoned and then had apostatized but that he had never known them - they had never been true christians.” – Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, (f) I never knew you: depart from me, (g) ye that work iniquity.

(f) This is not of ignorance, but because he will cast them away.

(g) You that are given to all kinds of wickedness, and seem to make an art of sin.” – Geneva Bible

“I never knew you — What they claimed - intimacy with Christ - is just what He repudiates, and with a certain scornful dignity. “Our acquaintance was not broken off - there never was any.” depart from me — The connection here gives these words an awful significance. They claimed intimacy with Christ, and are represented as having gone out and in with Him on familiar terms. “So much the worse for you,” He replies: “I bore with that long enough; but now - begone!” - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary

“…but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” – 1st John 2:19 (KJV)

“The church knows not well who are its vital members and who are not; and therefore the church, considered as internally sanctified, may well be styled invisible. Some of the hypocritical must be manifested here, and that for their own shame and benefit too, in their reduction to the truth, if they have not sinned unto death, and for the terror and caution of others.” – Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible

“But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” – 1st John 2:20 (KJV)

“But ye have an unction - The word χρισμα signifies not an unction, but an ointment, the very thing itself by which anointing is effected; …God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness...” - Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible

“I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.” – Psalms 119:162 (KJV)

“I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” – 1st John 2:21 (KJV)

How Do We or Will We Know Truth?

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” - Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

“A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.” - Proverbs 29:19 (KJV)

“Servant - i. e., A slave, whose obedience is reluctant. He may “understand” the words, but they produce no good effect. There is still lacking the true “answer” of obedience.” - Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

- Maturing from Servanthood to Sonship.

“I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” – 1st John 2:21 (KJV)

“No form of error, however plausible it may appear, however ingeniously it may be defended and however much it may seem to be favorable to human virtue and happiness, can be founded in truth. What the apostle says here has somewhat the aspect of a truism, but it contains a real truth of vital importance, and one which should have great influence in determining our minds in regard to any proposed opinion or doctrine. Error often appears plausible…” - Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“It seems to be adapted to promote religion. It seems to make those who embrace it happy, and for a time they apparently enjoy religion. But John says that however plausible all this may be, however much it may seem to prove that the doctrines thus embraced are of God, it is a great and vital maxim that no error can have its foundation in truth, and, of course, that it must be worthless…” - Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“Mere plausible appearances, or temporary good results that may grow out (ergo, not through) of a doctrine, do not prove that it is based on truth; for whatever those results may be, it is impossible that any error, however plausible, should have its origin in the truth.” - Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

The test of EMPHASIS:- People, Process, Systems, Religion, Organization- Christ: Word and Holy Spirit- Experience vs. Relationship

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” – 1st John 2:22-23 (KJV)

“(s) They deceive themselves, and also deceive others, who say that the Moslems and other infidels worship the same God that we do.” - Geneva Bible

“I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.” – Psalms 119:163 (KJV)

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” - John 17:16-17 (KJV)

“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.” - 1st John 2:24 (KJV)

“And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.” – 1st John 2:25-26 (KJV)

“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you (1st John 2:20), and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” – 1st John 2:27 (KJV)

“Ye need not that any man teach you - The Gnostics, who pretended to the highest illumination, could bring no proof that they were divinely taught, nor had they any thing in their teaching worthy the acceptance of the meanest Christian; therefore they had no need of that, nor of any other teaching but that which the same anointing teacheth, the same Spirit from whom they had already received the light of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ.” - Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible

“Whatever that taught, they needed; and whatever those taught whose teaching was according to this Spirit, they needed. St. John does not say that those who had once received the teaching of the Divine Spirit had no farther need of the ministry of the Gospel; no, but he says they had no need of such teaching as their false teachers proposed to them; nor of any other teaching that was different from that anointing, i.e. the teaching of the Spirit of God.” - Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible

“No man, howsoever holy, wise, or pure, can ever be in such a state as to have no need of the Gospel ministry: they who think so give the highest proof that they have never yet learned of Christ or his Spirit.” - Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible